War Dead Congregational Church

The Imperial War Museum has transcribed the memorial to the members of the Congregational Church (as it was then called) in Quoiting Square Marlow who fought in the First World War.  The transcribed names are listed below and I have added some research into those young men.

Bartlett, Gilbert

Batting, Horace

Grove, William B

Keates, Ronald

Loaring, William J

Peddle, Alfred 

Plumridge, Albert E

Robinson, William

Smith, Henry J

Research:

Gilbert Bartlett. Son of Mrs and Noah Bartlett. Born 1891. His dad ran a grocer's shop in West Street overlooking Quoiting Square. I believe Gilbert is also memorialised in the WW 1 memorial in Sir William Borlase School, which he certainly attended. He had emigrated to South Africa by the time the war started and was thus serving in the South African infantry when he died in 1916. More about his parents in this post where you can find a picture of their premises as they are today.

Horace Batting. Born Horace John Batting 1897 to Charlotte and John Batting. Dad was a gardener. He himself was a grocer's assistant. Lived York Road as a small child. As a 13 year old Herbert was soloist in the Congregational Church's choir. Lance Corporal in the Royal Fusiliers. Died 29th April 1917. On the war memorial at Arras. Parents had previously suffered the loss of their 3 year old daughter Gertrude.

William B Grove. Born 1897 to George and Emma Grove. Lived 1901 Cambridge Place, Cambridge Road. Died 1915. Kings Royal Rife Corps. Featured on the Menin Gate memorial. Dad George worked on the river as a boat building labourer, waterman and a steam launch driver as well as being an amateur rower.

Ronald Keates. In full Ronald Sidney Keates. Born 1895 to Anne and James. Grew up West Street Marlow. Age 10 won a prize in Marlow Horticultural Show 1905 for a bunch of wildflowers he had picked. I know it is a minor thing to mention but the image of the child Ronald wandering peacefully in the fields enjoying the flowers struck a chord with me when I read it considering what he would later live through. Private in the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry. Before the war he was a clerk. His father James was a builder's foreman, elected parish constable and town councillor.

William J Loaring. Private in the Royal Fusiliers 13th Battalion. Killed 4th August 1917 by a sniper. Included on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres. Employed at Morgan's the drapers in the High Street before the war. The Morgans were also Congregational Church members. To see an historic photo of the premises where William worked or to read more about the Morgan family see my post here

Alfred Peddle. Born 1894 to Alfred and Helen Peddle.

Above, grave of Alfred Harry Peddle. Killed In Action in France March 2nd 1917 age 22. Of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.  Grave is in Marlow Cemetery. He is buried with his parents who lived in York Road at the time of his death. He was a plumber.

Albert E Plumridge. Albert Ernest. Born 1881 in Bisham. Did not die until some years after the war. It may have been considered that his military service caused his death nevertheless. He was badly gassed in 1917 and was sent home to hospital in Stourbridge England. Albert was a worker at Temple Mills before becoming a motor launch driver on the river. He lived at Bisham with his wife Edith (née Finch) at first before moving to West End Gardens Marlow. These houses still exist but are not now known under that name. They are in Henley Road Marlow. Albert had been a regular player for Bisham football team as a teen / young adult, sometimes serving as the Vice Captain. I think he may also have been a rower.

William Robinson. Possibly born 1885 to Alice and William Robinson.

Henry J Smith. The town's main war memorial gives the name H.W Smith which was Henry William, who may be a relative. Henry J was a Private in the Buck's Battalion.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day.

For detailed posts on Marlow in WW1 see Kathryn's Posts 1914  1915  1916  1917  1918 and 1919

For more church related content see the Church Related option on the menu. There are also A-Z Person Indexes, Graves  and Wills options on the menu.

Sources Include:

Transcription of the memorial is ©WMR-8379. Imperial War Museum. Available on a Creative Commons BY-NC licence. 

Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Details of memorials on the continent and dates of death.

Bucks Herald 25th August 1917. Copy held at the British Library archives. Accessed March 2021 via the BNA.

South Bucks Standard 23rd December 1910. As above.

Reading Mercury 25th August 1917.

1891 and 1901 Census transcribed from microfilm images by me.

World War One Service Records 1914-20 database online. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVBG-1V55 WO 363. National Archives, Kew.

War Memorial All Saints Church, Marlow (commemorates all denominations).

Written and researched by Charlotte Day. 

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to reuse our research if you link here so that the sources listed above remain credited for the information they provided.

The Eagles Have Landed- in Spittal Street!

 Joseph Eagle or sometimes "Eagles" ran a grocery shop in Spittal Street Marlow. This was close to the old Greyhound Inn. Sadly neither building still exists. Joseph was on the premises by 1833.

He and his wife were worshippers at the Salem Chapel now known as Christ Church (United Reformed) in Quoiting Square. Their daughters Charlotte and Elizabeth were baptised there in 1811 and 1812 respectively (but born 1809 and 1811). There was also a known daughter Harriet born circa 1818. I didn't see her baptism in the microfilm images I was studying but I may have missed it, ditto the son William and daughter Ann who appear on the censuses or other known daughter Keziah. They were probably just on another reel of film.

The register gives Elizabeth and Charlotte's mother as an Elizabeth which is puzzling as their father appears as married to an Ann on the census and a Joseph and Ann Courtney married in 1809, before the births of Charlotte or Elizabeth. 

Daughters Harriet and Elizabeth did not marry and acted as assistants in their father's shop during his lifetime. In 1840 a bad shilling was passed in payment to Harriet but the Marlow constables were already on the trail of the culprit and caught him while he was still in Eagle's shop.

Three years later a boy called Thomas Plumridge was sentenced to three days in jail for stealing a piece of pork from the shop.

Joseph died in 1871. Elizabeth and Harriet took charge of the business in his place. In 1879 Benjamin Green* appeared in court charged with stealing a bottle of sweets and a bottle of sherbet from them while Harriet was on duty behind the counter. He had moments earlier in the same courtroom been jailed for 3 months for poaching so the second charge was not pressed.

Elizabeth died in 1880 after which Harriet carried on with the assistance of her young niece Ann Cheer (daughter of her sister Ann AKA Annie). Harriet died in 1893. 

Her sister Charlotte married James Sawyer the baker at the age of 17. She ran the Sawyer's bakery in West Street for many years as a widow. See an image of the site of those premises and read more about Charlotte  here

Keziah Eagle's husband Jason Povey got into trouble for accepting a bribe to vote a certain way during one of Marlow's many notoriously corrupt elections. More on that and Jason in future.

For other shopkeeping Marlow families see the Biographies Of Families option on the top drop menu. And for other post related to shops see the Specific shops, schools etc option on the same menu.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day. 

*Benjamin Green went on something of a one man crime wave in 1879. Early in the year he was acquitted of a charge of stealing a substantial amount of money from his employer Harriett Anthony of the High Street. At the same session he was also acquitted of stealing a pair of boots from Battings. However both the boots and the money were found later, secreted in the stables where Benjamin had worked.  He had claimed to have seen a man run out of the garden at the time of the robbery but it was a lack of footprints on bare soil to support his story that caused the police to be suspicious in the first place. 

Sources:

Bucks Herald 14th March 1840 and Bucks Gazette 11th March 1843. Reading Mercury 1st February 1879. Copies held in the British Library archives and accessed via the BNA March 2021.

My transcription of images of Salem Chapel baptisms on microfilm #007765132. Provided by the LDS church, Intellectual Reserve Inc.

1883 Kelly's Post Office Directory  published by Kelly's Directories Limited

1839 Robson's Commercial Directory. University of Leicester Archives.

1853 Mussons and Cravens Directory. University of Leicester Archives.

1844 Pigotts Commercial Directory.

Census 1841-91

1833 parochial assessment. Original handwritten notebooks held by my family and transcribed by me.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are very welcome to use my research for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog and a link here so that the sources listed above don't lose credit for contributing.

Pig's Feet For A Shilling Or A Whipping- Your Choice!

 

UPDATED AND CORRECTED NOVEMBER 2024

Text and research by Charlotte Day, Image by Kathryn Day.

From at least the 1820s until around 1901 the Sawyer family ran a bakery here.

Robert Sawyer came first. By 1833 he had given over the business to his son James (born 1803) and gone to run a pork butcher's shop nearly opposite it. Robert's wife died after getting a piece of food, probably a piece of bread, stuck in her throat (thanks to Stephen Martin for this information).

In the handwritten 1833 parochial assessment notebooks which my family has Jame's premises were described as a house, yard, flour lofts and sheds and had an annual value of £12. Only two doors away was another baker's shop operated by Henry Menday.

In 1851 a Henry Howard received six weeks hard labour for stealing a 2lb loaf from the shop.

After James' death his widow Charlotte took on the helm but she had been behind the counter long before that. In 1879 her scales were found to be slightly deficient during a routine inspection. Nearby baker Owen Wright who had taken over Menday's premises was similarly found wanting*.

As well as bread Charlotte had a line in pig feet, or at least she did in 1859 when an 11 year child James Harris stole one from a dish on her shop counter. The price was a shilling - or for little James, a whipping. The judge in the case decided to be "merciful" and thus ordered that the punishment could be carried out in private rather than in the usual public manner. As well as pig feet Charlotte had a sideline in other groceries and vegetables.

A definitely more merciful sentence was handed down to a "girl" Emma Anderson who stole a 4lb loaf of bread from Charlotte in 1872. She only had to suffer a day in jail.

After Charlotte retired her son James ran the bakery business but she continued to live with him on the premises. You can read more about James (unfortunately it's not a happy read!) and another son Owen in a post here. I will just add here that under the stewardship of James the family suffered a serious fire on the premises when heat from a bread oven caused part of the timber structure of the building to catch fire. James was just a stone's throw from the fire bell which could be rung to summon the Marlow Fire Brigade. Both the fire and water damage to the building were severe with the family losing much of their furniture and it was feared that only demolition of the premises would be an option. That however seems to have been avoided. A few years later James sold his business to baking rival Charles Carter who did not intend to operate from the premises.

The Morgan family owned the actual building of the bakery. It had once belonged to the church.

Charlotte Sawyer, the wife of James Senior was the daughter of Spittal Street grocer Joseph Eagle and Elizabeth his wife. (Read more about them here) Her birth family were worshippers at the Salem Chapel in Quoiting Square now known as Christ Church. There she was baptised at the age of 2 in 1811. She married her husband aged 19. 

* Many thanks to Stephen Martin for providing information and corrections for this post*

For the involvement in political bribery of Charlotte's brother in law Jason Povey see here

James Sawyer Senior's brother ran the Ship Inn in West Street close to the bakery.

Researched and written by Charlotte Day, photo by Kathryn Day. 

* Many thanks to Stephen Martin for providing information and corrections for this post*

To find other West Street content see the "Specific Shops, Streets Etc" option on the menu. For all mentions of any individual on the blog see the Person Index *As of August 2023 over 7,500 Marlow-linked people are mentioned here*

Sources:

*Bucks Herald 27th November 1875. Via the BNA and British Library archives.

Reading Mercury 12th Feb 1859. As above.

Bucks Herald 12th April 1851. As above.

South Bucks Standard 6th August 1897, as above.

Census 1841-1901. Transcribed by Jane Pullinger and Charlotte Day from microfilm. All census information is Crown Copyright.

Salem Chapel baptisms transcribed by me from microfilm #007765132 images supplied by the LDS church, Intellectual Reserve Inc.

1833 parochial assessment. Original handwritten record held by my family and transcribed by me.

Stephen Martin's family history research.

©Marlow Ancestors. You are welcome to use this information for family or local history purposes with credit to this blog.

The Troubles Of Minister George Edwards

George Edwards was the Minister of what we now call Christ Church in Quoiting Square between 1806 - 25. (The current building dates from after his time).

The year he took over, his congregation raised over £11 to support the work of missionaries abroad. Seems like he was off to a good start with them but things didn't always go so well.

In 1823 George got into quite some bother after he criticised one of his Sunday School teachers during a service. When I first heard about this case I thought that when it was said  he had "impugned her virtue" that he was referring to some romantic entanglement. But actually his criticism centred upon her allegedly giving her pupils leave not to attend the Sunday School. Margaret was a disgrace to the school he said and if another child was given her permission to be absent she should be banned permanently from the school premises.

You might wonder why George didn't just dispense with her services straight away if he was so unhappy. The court case details reveal however that this was not in his power to do. The school was run by a committee of ladies. This committee was voted for by the church members as a whole. George had one vote like everyone else but no more than that and certainly no power of veto or dismissal.

If George felt this difficult situation would be solved by a public admonishment he was wrong. Some of his congregation were up in arms. Margaret of course was upset. She said that only once had children been given leave not to attend and that was because their mother needed them to watch younger siblings so that she could attend her own church which was the Wesleyan Chapel.

Margaret appealed to Joseph Wright, deacon of the church. He called a meeting of members. How would you feel if a "defenceless female" perhaps your own daughter (Margaret was 24) had been publicly humiliated this way, he asked. Margaret's brother in law Samuel Washbourn asked for a formal and public apology to be made but George refused. Joseph and George exchanged "warm words" but Joseph's motion of censure against George was not seconded. Joseph would later allege that following the meeting he heard George call Margaret a "lying hussey", language which startled him.

Someone tipped off the local papers who presented events as George having lost the goodwill of the entirety of his flock by his actions. The Times newspaper took up the story so it received nationwide attention. Their report said that he had abused his position by using the pulpit for personal invective. That was too much for George and he sued the Times (but not it seems the local papers) for slander on the grounds that he had not lost the goodwill of his congregation or been unprofessional. The sum of 40 shillings damages came his way but the ruling acknowledged that the newspaper version of events was not entirely inaccurate.

The lawsuit had the unfortunate effect of renewed coverage of the original events, and in fact wider coverage than before as local papers from around the country picked it up as an interesting case. In the 1800s these papers routinely filled out their pages with non - local but interesting stories.

Whether Margaret Fair remained as a Sunday school teacher or not I cannot say but George was two more years Minister of the church before he resigned.

Members of the congregation that gave witness to what George said about Margaret were a Miss Smith, Eliza Holding, Mary Anne Stone, Samuel Washbourn, Sarah Puddifant and "John Ceilings" (perhaps John Snelling?). 

All kinds of personal factors were probably at play in this case. Samuel Washbourn admitted he had gone bankrupt previously and that the Minister was one his creditors. Their relationship was no longer good.  Margaret said that George had never been one of her favourite preachers. Perhaps he had discerned that fact and felt upset. Perhaps the fact she was aiding a Wesleyan worshipper rankled with him, or his falling out with her brother in law Washbourn meant he had less patience than otherwise with that family. 

It's a pity as the school was a pet project of George's and Margaret had been willing to be an unpaid regular teacher there since she was only 17. Everyone but George thought she was a lady of "spotless virtue". He and she could have been a great Sunday School team!

George died in Stonehouse near Plymouth Devon in 1833. His obituary said he had been ill for a number of years but still sometimes preached sermons in the Plymouth area. It is possible that this ill health contributed to him leaving Marlow. At the time of the 1823 court case he was said to be a married man with 5 children. The Manse he lived in at Marlow was in Chapel Street and was acquired during his tenure as was an additional small meeting place in the village of Bisham near Marlow.

Something about the other people in the case:

John Ceiling (Snelling? Selling?) said in his evidence that he was 80. When George Edwards was new in town it was John whose house he first visited. John obviously considered this a sign of distinction.

Samuel Washbourn was a children's clothing manufacturer and embroiderer who lived in Chapel Street next to the Manse at first. Later he moved to Quoiting Square right by the church, probably taking over the home of his deceased brother. A kind and charitable man, as was his brother John. Both suffered bankruptcy in their life.

Joseph Wright was of Marlow Mills. See my post on the Wane family published in April 2021 for a Joseph Wright's further involvement in church troubles. 

Sarah Puddifant- there's a post all about her and her husband James on the blog here

To find other people of interest to you that are mentioned in the blog use the Person Index option on the drop down menu. As of December 2021 there is 3,000 individuals from or connected to Marlow listed there. 

Researched by Charlotte Day. Most of the Salem Chapel/Congregational Church ministers have biographies here on the blog - see the menu  here to find them all. 

Sources:

Evening Mail, 7th July 1823. Copy held at the British Library Archives. Accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.

The Statesman (London). 7th July 1823. As above.

Reports Of Cases Argued And Determined In The English Courts Of Common Law, Volume 8 by H.C Carey and Lee, 1824. Digitized by Google. Accessed March 2021.

The Evangelical Magazine And Missionary Chronicle, 1833. As above.

History of the Congregational Churches in the Berks, South Oxon and Bucks Association. 1905. WJ Blackett, Newbury.

©Marlow Ancestors. 

*DO YOU HAVE AN ANCESTRAL CONNECTION TO CHRIST CHURCH IN MARLOW? IF SO WHY NOT COMMEMORATE YOUR ANCESTOR BY SUPPORTING THE CHRIST CHURCH PATH OF LIGHT FUNDRAISING EFFORTS - SEE   Here FOR MORE INFORMATION**